Istanbul, 1591 - and Sultan Murad III, the mightiest ruler in the world, has been robbed. The Staff of Moses has been stolen from his private collection of religious artefacts in the Topkapi Palace - right from under his imperial nose! The wooden Staff, held by Moses as he parted the Red Sea, is a magical symbol of power worth a king’s ransom - and the furious Sultan wants it back.
A small undercover unit of hand-picked, trusted warriors is hastily assembled to track down the thieves. They are the ‘Rüzgar’ – the ‘Wind’ – and like the wind, they travel silently and unseen. Awa, the studious daughter of a noble family from the Songhai Empire in West Africa, was kidnapped and enslaved by Moroccans after the disastrous Battle of Tondibi. Awa is a whirling and deadly force when she has a scimitar in her hand. Will, who was snatched from his home in London at the age of 5, is now 16 and a galley slave on board a Moroccan warship. Joining the Rüzgar turns him into a man. He and Awa become fast friends. The other comrades are Turkish, Greek and Albanian, all led by the charismatic Bosnian Mehmed Konjic, a wise counsellor and natural hero.
The Rüzgar’s pursuit of a network of rogues takes them across continents and into many perilous situations. The action is fast and furious, with dire situations requiring a Houdini to escape from . . . set against thrilling backdrops including deserts, oceans, dungeons, the roofs of the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, the canals of Venice and the court of Queen Elizabeth I at Nonsuch Palace in Surrey.
The task to reclaim the Staff is a mission that is (almost) impossible . . .